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14 bodies found by side of road in Mexico
MEXICO CITY, June 27, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Authorities in Mexico found 14 bodies
dumped on the side of a road in northern Zacatecas state, where notorious
criminal gangs operate, the regional government said on Friday.
Images on local media showed the bodies by the side of a road, wrapped in
blankets and tied with adhesive tape.
Zacatecas public prosecutor, Francisco Murillo told the press that four of the
bodies had been identified and were from Juan Aldama, a town 150 kilometers (90
miles) to the north of Fresnillo, where they were found.
“They are people who disappeared from that region a few days ago,” said
Murillo.
Zacatecas is on one of the main drug trafficking routes into the United States
and, according to experts, the territory is being fought over by at least three
local criminal gangs with links to the two most powerful drug cartels in Mexico:
Sinaloa and Jalisco New Generation.
On Wednesday a battle between rival Sinaloa factions left 16 people dead in
this northwestern state.
Earlier on Friday, Mexico City’s security chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch, was
wounded and two of his bodyguards killed in an ambush by gunmen. A woman who was
driving past the scene was also killed.
Garcia Harfuch blamed the attack, in which he was hit by three bullets, on the
Jalisco New Generation cartel.
Since December 2006 when the then-government launched a military operation
against drug trafficking criminal gangs, more than 290,000 people have been
murdered, according to official figures.
Experts believe this strategy split up the cartels into smaller and more
violent cells.
Despite large parts of Mexico being semi-paralyzed by coronavirus lockdown
measures, violence has not abated.
March was the second most violent month since records began in 1997 with 3,000
murders in the country of 127 million.
BSS/AFP/MSY/0735